1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for emptying transport and storage containers for liquids. The transport and storage containers are comprised of an inner container made of plastic material that is comprised of four sidewalls, a bottom wall, and a top wall with a closeable fill opening and a closeable discharge opening, an outer container made of sheet metal or a mesh and surrounding the inner container, and a pallet-like support frame.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known transport and storage container disclosed in German patent document 44 14 378 C2 the bottom wall of the inner container is designed as a discharge bottom with a centrally arranged flat discharge channel which extends at a slight incline from the back wall of the container to a discharge socket with a discharge fitting arranged in the front wall of the inner container in the bottom area.
For discharge fittings such as a flap valve or a ball valve which are pressurized by liquid, the risk of leakage increases with increasing time of use. Upon repeated discharge of liquid from the container, it cannot be prevented that residual liquid drips from the fitting onto the floor if no catch basin is provided. The transport and the storage of liquids with a high degree of purity for industrial applications as well as of liquid foodstuffs such as juices and syrup in prior art containers having a discharge fitting in the bottom area presents problems because of the contamination risk resulting from lubricants such as silicone that may be required for the fitting and also from residues retained in the fitting which, upon repeated discharge of partial amounts from the liquid container, can be entrained in the liquid and cause contamination. Moreover, the complete emptying of the container via the discharge fitting provided at the front wall of the container in the bottom area is not optimal.
In order to avoid the aforementioned disadvantages of liquid containers with a discharge fitting in the bottom area, it has also been previously suggested to provide the discharge opening adjacent to the fill opening in the top wall of the container.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a constructively simple and inexpensive device for emptying transport and storage containers for liquids of the aforementioned kind which have a discharge opening arranged in the top wall of the container.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved in that the device has a base frame, a pivot frame pivotably mounted on the base frame for receiving a transport container for liquids, and a pivot drive for pivoting upwardly the pivot frame from an initial low position for receiving the transport container into an upper pivot end position in which the transport container is in its emptying position.